Different methods and devices have been used in the past to protect plants, shrubs and trees from damage by falling ice and snow, especially under the eaves of buildings. Some methods have involved binding plant branches with twine and securing a covering of burlap or other mesh-like material around the plant. The use of wire or tubular frameworks and similar mesh-like coverings have also been employed, but all such methods have been marginally successful, at best, and are unsightly in appearance.
Prior devices that provide adequate protection for such plants, shrubs and trees are lacking in one or more of the following attributes: durability and attractiveness, ease of assembly and disassembly, portability and storability, adaptability to various plant heights and shapes, and economic manufacture of a device to permit simple user assembly, without the use of separate parts or fasteners, and a reasonable consumer investment.
Wooden shrub protectors have also been used in colder climate regions, but they are expensive to fabricate, are time and labor intensive in their assembly, and are difficult and expensive to maintain from the deteriorating effects of weather. Other known protection devices offer a solution to some of the above lacking attributes, but not all. For example: the "Shrub Protector" of Greenman and Pelky U.S. Pat. No. 3,878,643 has advantages of being portable and inexpensive but employs outdated technology using wooden slats as supporting side members. The slats must be procured separately, time-consumingly fitted with several pieces of hardware and fasteners, and are subject to deterioration from weather conditions. Storability, upon disassembly, may also be problematic without the use of separate containers to hold its various parts.
Similarly, the "Plant, Shrub and Tree Protector Garden Panel" of Thomas U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,673 requires several parts and fasteners as well as considerable set-up time in its initial assembly and reconfiguration. The height adjustment feature is quite limited by the fixed lengths of the sheet-like plates and is an added initial cost to consumers who may not need this at all, or perhaps for a considerable length of time.
The "Shrub Protector" of Wagner U.S. Pat. No. 3,846,935 incorporates a feature to adjust its legs to irregular land conformation surrounding a shrub, but does little to provide continuing protection for shrubs or trees which may grow beyond its overall height. Additionally, the device may now be cost prohibitive, being constructed of aluminum, stainless steel and other such materials, especially in light of technological advances in the use of high-impact plastics, extruded polyvinyl and the like.
Whatever the advantages, features and benefits of the references cited above, none of the devices completely overcome difficulties associated with prior art devices nor satisfies the purposes of the interlocking shrub shelter of the present invention.